Living Places Design Competition
Competition: 2008 - Third Place
Dandenong, Victoria
Type: Living - Multi-residential / Public Space
Client: Victorian Office of Housing
In collaboration with: Rory Hyde, Tobias Pond
This awarded competition proposal introduces sixteen new units and a series of public and private spaces, to a test site in outer Melbourne. The project represents an illustration of how a design framework which underpins the scheme could be applied to the problem of social housing in Victoria, particularly in similar suburban locations. It is intended to provide both the structure necessary to manage the complexities of such developments and the flexibility needed to engender a genuine response to the specific range of environmental, social, economic and governance factors affecting projects of this nature.
The framework proposes three distinct strategies: firstly, by responding to the existing rhythm and scale of the surrounding fabric, the scheme presents a direct response to its context. At the scale of the overall development, a series of 'whole of site' principals which address public space, water management and community life and learning; and at the scale of the individual unit key guidelines for the creation of good residential spaces able to strategically adapt to the needs of all people regardless of their age, social, cultural or physical situations.
